Head-rest for coffins



(No Model.)

C.KRAUSB R.

HEAD REST POR comms. No. 368,721. Patented Aug. 23, 1887.

N. PEYERS. mio-Lhhagraphir, Wnhingom D. C.

Artnr trice.

CYRUS K'RAUSR, OF LEEPER, PENNSYLVANIA.

HEAD-REST FOR COFFINS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,721, dated August23, 18.87. Application filed January 22, 1887. Serial No. 295,069. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CYRUs KRAUsER, of Leeper, in the county of Clarionand State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement inHead-Rests or Pillow- Blocks for Cofins andBurial-Caskets, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive andeasily-concealed means of keeping the head of a corpse in properposition in a coffin or casket during the shaking and jolting to whichthe coflin or casket and the contained corpse are often subject infunerals by being carried over rough roads for long distances, andwhich,without some means for this purpose, are apt to produce anunsightly and often very repulsive distortion of the head.

The improvement consists in certain novel combinations of parts,hereinafter described and claimed, constituting a pillow-block, by whichthe desired object is accomplished.

Figure lis a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the head portion ofa cofiin and of my improved pillow-block applied thereto. Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view corresponding with Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan ofthe pillowblock. Fig. 4. is a transverse sectional view of the same.Fig. 5 is a side view of the pillow-block having the cheek-piecesremoved and the side bars turned down or folded.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts in the several gures.

The pillowblock consists, generally, of two base-boards, a a', a seriesof ribs, b, made of steel wire orlight elastic metal, and twocheekpieces, c, as shown in Figs. l, 2, 3; but sometimes I add diagonalelastic side braces, g, on 4o each side, as shown in Fig. 2.

The base-boards a a',which are clamped together by screws d, haveprovided in their opposite faces transverse grooves to form bear.- ingsfor the straight lower parts of the ribs b,

4 5 which are substantially of the shape of a letter U,with the centralportion of the bottom extended laterally on a straight line, as shown inFigs. 2 and 4. The cheek-pieces consist of pieces of wood, which arenearly straight for 5o the greater portion of their length, but havethose ends which are to come nearest the head of the coffin A bentslightly inward to come partly over the crown ofthe head of the corpse.They have holes bored about half through them from the under side toreceive the ends of the ribs and hold up the latter, asshown in Figs. 2and 4, the ribs entering freely into said holes, so that thecheek-pieces may be easily removable to permit the folding down of theribs, as shown in Fig. 5, in which condition they may remain until thepillow-block is to be used.

The lower base-board, a, is represented in Fig. l as having a riser, c,attached to the bottom at the end which comes next the head of thecoffin to give the base a suitable inclination. The pillow-block is tobe secured to the bottom of the cofiin or casket by a screw, f, orscrews passing through it and screwing into the bottom of the coffin, asshown in Figs. 1 and 3, one screw being sufficient if the base abutsagainst the head of the coffin.

The parts are so proportioned that the cheekpieces stand up about evenwith or slightly above the ears of the recurnbent corpse in the coffin,and so that the said pieces will lie close to and embrace nearly thewhole length ofthe sides of the head.

The cheek-pieces and ribs constitute flexible and elastic walls tosupport the sides of the head of the corpse, and the ribs, while beingcapable of yielding laterally, may be stiff enough of themselves toprevent lateral displacement or turning of the head; or they may befurther supported and sustained by elastic diagonal thrustbraces g oneach side, said braces consisting of or comprising coiled springs, andbeing secured at their lower ends to the outer parts of the bottom orlower parts of the sides of the cofn and at their upper ends to thecheek-pieces.

The method of using this pillow-block or head-rest is as follows: Thepillow-block having been placed in the coffin, as shown in Figs. l and2, take, say, half a pound of fine cotton and pad the inside ofthe blockor rest as evenly and smoothly as possible, then take apiece of whitedamask, silk, or linen, or other fabric, about fourteen to sixteeninches wide and about twice as long, and spread it evenly over the topof the entire rest or block. Now let the head of the corpse rest uponthat portion IOS of the cloth immediately over the block or rest,V andthe Weight of the head will cause it to sink with the cloth down uponthe cotton bed prepared for it, and the ends of the cloth will hang overeach side of the rest or block and so entirely conceal it from View that11o one would suspect its presence, and the repulsiveness of anymachine-like structure in a cofin be entirely done away with.

It may be here stated that the entire cost of such a head-rest orpillow-block without upholstery need not be more than six cents; yet itmeets all requirements7 and may before its use be folded up in so smallcompass as to bc easily kept out of sight.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,isi

l. The combination of the base consisting of two boards and screws forclamping them low-block for coiins, Ste., of a base, ribstted to turn insaid base for the purpose of being set up or foldeddown, and cheekpiecesremovably attached to said ribs7 substantially as herein described.

3. The combination, in a head-rest or pillow-block for cofiins, Svc., ofa base, flexible side walls, and external elastic lateral braces7substantially as herein described.

GYRUS KRAUSER.

Vitnesses:

J. L. KRAUsER, SAML. K. CLARKE.

